At Least Seven Billionaires Among 46 Donors to Trump’s $13.7M Transition Fund; Some Later Took Posts

The Trump transition team published a list of 46 individuals who donated to its $13.7 million transition fund after nearly a year of delayed disclosure. The list identifies donors by name but omits addresses, professions and the size of each contribution, making independent verification and assessment of potential conflicts of interest difficult.

What the list shows

At least seven donors on the list appear to be billionaires, with one or two others described as near‑billionaires. Several of those named later received senior roles or special appointments in the administration.

• Linda McMahon and Howard Lutnick — listed as co‑chairs of the transition and reported donors; both later were named to high‑level administration posts overseeing education and commerce, respectively.
• Steve Witkoff — a real estate investor on the donor list who subsequently served as a special envoy.
• Jeff Yass and Paul Singer — investors and managers identified among the donors.
• Suzanne Johnson and Marlene Ricketts — listed as spouses of prominent business figures and named as contributors.
• Robert Bigelow — identified as a near‑billionaire and owner of Budget Suites of America.
• A donor listed as Robert Bishop may be a Connecticut hedge fund manager who previously backed the broader political effort; if he is the same individual, public reporting has tied him to high‑value real estate holdings.

Related donations and concerns

Some donors on the transition list also contributed about $1 million apiece to the presidential inauguration fund, which raised a record amount. One listed donor has also been reported as a contributor to a major White House renovation or construction project. These overlaps prompted watchdog groups to warn that the lack of donor amounts and contextual detail limits public scrutiny of potential pay‑for‑play or conflicts of interest.

Officials and other notable names

The published list also includes senior Justice Department official Stanley Woodward Jr. and Dominick Gerace II, who is serving as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. Other names include a Heritage Foundation vice president and multiple Washington, D.C. lawyers and lobbyists.

"President Trump greatly appreciates his supporters and donors; however, unlike politicians of the past, he is not bought by anyone and does what’s in the best interest of the country," transition spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez said in response to questions about the donors. "Any suggestion otherwise is simply false."

Transparency questions

Previous presidential transitions typically signed an agreement with the federal General Services Administration that required donor disclosure and capped individual donations in exchange for federal funding and administrative support. By releasing names without donation amounts or donor details, the recent disclosure departs from that earlier practice and has drawn criticism from transparency advocates who say the public needs fuller information to evaluate potential influence on government policy and appointments.

The published donor list provides a clearer picture of who supported the transition financially, but without donation sizes and background details the public’s ability to assess conflicts or undue influence remains limited.